


A Shared Secret

by passionfire



Category: Marvel Cinematic Universe, Spider-Man (Tom Holland Movies), The Avengers (Marvel Movies)
Genre: Bi Peter Parker, Bullying, Canon? I don't know her., Coming Out, Gen, Hurt/Comfort, Irondad, Irondad & Spiderson, Mild Hurt/Comfort, Mild Language, Non-descriptive violence mentions, Parent Tony Stark, Peter Parker Has Panic Attacks, Peter Parker Needs a Hug, Peter Parker has PTSD, Peter Parker is a Mess, Precious Peter Parker, Protective Tony Stark, Tony Stark Acting as Peter Parker's Parental Figure, Tony Stark Has A Heart, Trans Peter Parker, Whump, might edit later, spiderson
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2019-09-19
Updated: 2019-12-21
Packaged: 2020-10-21 12:16:53
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 3
Words: 6,217
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/20693384
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/passionfire/pseuds/passionfire
Summary: Peter Parker was trans. There's nothing he could do to change that. If only there was someone who could help him out; who understood how he felt. Surely there's nobody around who he could relate to.





	1. I Think I'm Alone

**Author's Note:**

  * For [My Cheese Bag](https://archiveofourown.org/gifts?recipient=My+Cheese+Bag).
  * Inspired by [Sleepy Spider Snuggles](https://archiveofourown.org/works/18966109) by [The_Devil_In_The_Details_666](https://archiveofourown.org/users/The_Devil_In_The_Details_666/pseuds/The_Devil_In_The_Details_666). 

> This was heavily inspired by Sleepy Spider Snuggles by The_Devil_In_The_Details_666 and I really just wanted to try my hand at some irondad and spiderson because I'm still getting over my Infinity War depression. Thanks for reading!

_Text: Peter → May: “I'm going to ask Mr. Stark to pick me up after GSA tonight. I think I'll tell him then.”_

_Text: May → Peter: “I'll tell him I'm going out of town for the evening. ;) you'll do great”_  
~~  
_-Peter Parker calling Tony Stark._  
“Hello? Kid, why are you calling me in the middle of your school day?” Tony grumbled, clearly preoccupied.  
“Hi, Mr. Stark. I was just wondering if, uhh… You could pick me up after school. May’s out of town tonight, and I was hoping I could spend the evening at the tower… If that's okay with you. 3:30 pm.”  
“3:30?” Tony raised an eyebrow, knowing Peter couldn't see. “I thought your school let out at 2:45… You don't have detention, do you?”  
“No, Mr. Stark.” Peter laughed. He could tell Tony was joking through the tone of his voice. “I've just got a… club meeting after school.” Peter looked around quickly, noticing he only had a minute to get to his next class.  
“What club-? Detentions are no joke-” Tony teased.  
Peter was only half-listening, as he said into his phone “I've got to go, Mr. Stark, 3:30!” He squeaked, with a little voice crack. Peter hung up his phone, blushing, and ducked through the crowd of people as he ran to his calculus class.  
~~  
Peter folded his tiny trans pride flag into his backpack after the GSA meeting and sat on the steps outside. _“Maybe Mr. Stark is running a little late. It's no big deal.”_ Peter thought.

Ten minutes went by, then twenty, then thirty. Flash Thompson walked by, and spit on Peter like usual. Once Flash was out of sight, Peter checked his phone. It was four o’clock and there was no sign of Tony coming to pick him up. The rational part of Peter's brain suggested that Tony was stuck in traffic, or had gotten caught up with something more important on his way. The irrational part of his brain tried to convince him Tony was in a car accident on the way here, or that Tony never intended to pick him up in the first place. Peter decided to call Tony, purely to make sure he was alright.

_-Peter Parker calling Tony Stark._  
“Hey, Mr. Stark. I'm at the front entrance, ready whenever you are.” Peter added a little pep to his voice.  
Tony started to panic. He'd had a bad day, sure, but was it really bad enough to forget to pick up Peter? “Be right there, Kid.”

Tony abruptly ended the call and wiped his hands on his jeans in the middle of an experiment with Banner. “Shit.” Tony grabbed his jacket and slung it over his shoulder, heading out of the door.  
“What's the matter?” Bruce asked, not looking up from his microscope.  
“Forgot to pick up the fucking kid from school.”  
“What kid? The spider?”  
“Peter! Peter Parker!” Tony slammed the door behind him and ran down to his car. He drove to Midtown High as fast as he could, making it in about seven minutes. He opened the passenger door for Peter. “Hop on in, kid.”

As soon as Peter shut the door, Tony started apologizing. “I'm really sorry, kid. What do you say I make it up to you? Dinner with Pepper, Banner, and I tonight? You can stay in the tower tonight if you want to. Look, I'm sorry.”

“Mr. Stark, you don't need to do all of this. Trust me, I'm fine.” Peter forced a smile. “I do…” he tapped his leg. “I do need to talk to you about something once we're back to the tower though.”

“Sure thing, kid.”

And as quickly as that, Peter’s fate was sealed. He was definitely going to tell Tony tonight and there was no backing out now. Tony didn't drive quite as quickly as he did on the way there but he was admittedly curious as to what Peter wanted to tell him. As far as Tony knew, Peter never planned what he was going to say to him that far in advance. He never seemed rehearsed, much less warn Tony.  
The drive home was relatively uneventful, as Peter and Tony were quiet through most of the twenty-minute ride back to the tower. Tony tried to create conversation, but Peter was unbelievably anxious and tense, Tony almost considered stopping the car to get a scan on Peter purely to make sure he was still breathing.

Tony pulled the car up to the entrance, almost nervously, and pressed the button to open Peter's door. “I'm going to go put the car away, you go ahead inside and I'll meet you there, alright?”  
Peter looked down at his shoes and muttered: “Thank you, Mr. Stark.”  
Tony knew something was wrong with Peter, but he also knew better than to ask right now. He tried to look Peter in the eye but met eyes only with his small brown curls.  
“Anytime, kid.”

Peter speed-walked into the tower and up the back stairwell into the kitchen, sitting on a stool in front of the kitchen island. Peter could have easily stayed on the couch in the lobby, but he needed to walk off as much anxiety as he could. He waited for what seemed like an eternity for Tony Stark to finally step off of the elevator.  
“Kid! Why are you all the way up here?” Tony raised an eyebrow, pulling up a chair opposite to Peter. “Now, what was it you wanted to talk to me about?”

Peter inhaled. “Mr. Stark…” His eyes started filling up with tears. “I'm trans…” He let out a small sob. “Transgender.”

Tony's heart immediately melted as he slid off of his chair in order to go comfort Peter. The seconds after Tony stood up but before he reached Peter were agonizing for both of them. Peter was growing unbelievably anxious, and Tony was disappointed in himself. He had tried his best to imply that he was accepting, but the realization that it wasn't enough was shoved into his face when Peter whispered into his shoulder. “Please don't be disappointed… I'm still Spider-Man.” Tony's heart shattered. He wrapped his arms around Peter, trying to be as comforting as possible. Peter just sat there for a moment, not returning the hug. “But I'm a disappointment…” his voice trailed off once more.  
“No, no, no. I-” Tony sighed. “You're not a disappointment. You're you, and that's alright.”  
Peter looked up at Tony with his chocolate eyes mirroring a lost puppy’s, and when Tony returned a look of confirmation, Peter finally completed the hug. He knew he was safe.

Tony shifted his arms under Peter's and picked him up off of his chair. Peter was unexpectedly light, allowing him to just melt into Tony.  
After a moment, Tony stepped into the elevator with Peter’s limbs still wrapped around him. Tony looked down at Peter on his shoulder. “Head up to your room?” He asked, only to find Peter silently sobbing into his shoulder, but he gently nodded.  
“It's alright, I'll give you some time.” Tony loosened his grip on Peter to open the door to his room.

Reluctantly, Tony laid the tear-stricken Peter on his bed to catch his breath and stepped out of the doorframe. “I'll be right back,” Tony whispered. Peter didn't respond, only laid stiff and stared at the star stickers on his ceiling.  
_“Poor thing,”_ Tony thought. _“Probably having a horrible panic attack right now.”_ He promptly but calmly walked back to the kitchen. “FRIDAY, Do we have any cookies in the kitchen?”  
“Yes, Tony. There are one dozen chocolate chip cookies in the kitchen.”  
“Awesome.” Tony picked up his pace a little.

Peter Parker was indeed, having a panic attack in his bedroom. Truthfully, one had been building up all day but he completely lost all control when Tony picked him up to take him to his room. Now that same Tony left him alone on his bed. Alone with his thoughts. Those very same thoughts that tried to convince him Tony would take away his suit or was planning to beat him for something he couldn't change. His breathing started to become short and choppy, and the walls were closing in on him. Peter reached under his bed to pull out his weighted blanket. He needed something to ground him. He hadn't pulled out that in months, but he was shaking and needed the inanimate comfort. He pulled it over his entire body, all the way up to his nose. He continued staring at the constellations on the ceiling.

Meanwhile, Tony arranged cookies on a plate and made his way back up the elevator. He couldn't help but smile given the fact that Peter had finally trusted him. Tony peered into Peter's room. “I brought you cookies; Chocolate chip was all we had, hope that's alright.”

Peter let out a small whine, wiping the smile completely off of Tony's face. He made his way over to Peter's bed, sitting on the side and looking down at Peter. Peter just clenched his eyes shut harder. Tony reached out to grab Peter's hand from under the heavy blanket. He noticed Peter was shaking, prompting him to ask “FRIDAY, check Peter Parker’s heart rate.”  
“Peter Parker's current heart rate is one hundred and thirty-six beats per minute.”  
“Shit,” Tony muttered. “Alright Peter, I need you to breathe for me, okay? Everything is alright. I'm here.”

Nothing seemed to help. Tony began to grow worried for Peter's sake. “Just- here.” Tony stammered. “Breathe with me.” He started counting quietly. “In, two, three, four; hold, two, three, four; out, two, three, four. You're doing great.” He kept repeating that for a few minutes until Peter was breathing slowly and steadily. Tony slipped his hand completely under the blanket and grasped Peter's tiny hand in his own fingers. Tony Stark wasn't very good at comforting people, but he tried everything that he knew worked on him. Discarding all egos for a moment, and getting directly to the issue, with a little bit of sentiment thrown in.  
“Are you feeling alright now?”  
Peter grasped Tony's hand as he sat up a little more in bed. “I feel better…” He murmured, his voice still trailing off.  
“What's the matter, underoos? You know anything I can do to help you, I will. When you're a genius and a billionaire, the sky's the limit.”  
Tony's ego flowed back as quickly as it had gone.  
“Mr. Stark, really, I'm fine. You don't need to go to all this trouble.”  
“Peter… Your heart rate was through the roof. It was clear you weren't fine. You know you can talk to me.”

Peter swung his legs over the side of the bed so he could sit directly next to Tony. Tony wrapped his arm around Peter's shoulder, allowing Peter's now calm body to relax into Tony's side.  
“I was worried… Worried you wouldn't like me if you knew.”  
“Didn't I say you're still you, regardless?”  
“Well, yeah, but…” More tears welled up in Peter's eyes. “That's what they said…”  
Tony quirked an eyebrow. “Who's they?”  
“Madison and Elliot… My old friends. They said they still liked me but,” Peter pulled up his jeans on his left leg to reveal scars scattered across his calf and ankle. “Every day I would sit on the school steps waiting for Aunt May, Elliot would come at me with a knife…”  
Tony's expression dropped, and the room fell dead silent. Peter never opened up this much. He started silently counting all of the white marks on his lower leg, but he lost count after twenty. He didn't need to count anyways. Peter’s instinct was telling him to cry, but he had nothing left to cry. He brought his knee to his chin, and traced some of the scars with his finger, not needing to look. “Eighty-four days and eighty-four scars before I did anything.”  
“How old-” Tony started.  
Peter interrupted before Tony could finish, which annoyed Tony to no end, but he knew Peter needed to talk. “I was eleven.”  
“Why didn't you-”  
Cut off once again. “I thought I deserved it. I thought I was a freak; a disappointment… I never told Aunt May.”  
Peter and Tony sat in silence for a long while, but just before Tony could open his mouth to talk, Peter looked up at the ceiling again. “I was worried that maybe, maybe if I really was a freak, you'd do the same thing.”  
Tony finally knew he needed to keep his mouth closed, which was for the better because he was starting to get emotional. Peter leaned into Tony's shoulder even more. “I need to thank you, Mr. Stark.”

Just in time to break the sentimental moment, a knock on the door bounced through the room. “Tony?” Pepper chimed.  
“Not a good time, Pep.” He called, as softly as possible while still being heard. Tony waited until Pepper was surely out of range before bringing his other arm to Peter's shoulder. “I care about you, Underoos, I really do. You can tell me anything. Now,” he paused, letting Peter have some space. “Would you want to come to dinner with Banner, Pep and I tonight? It'll probably be ready in two hours or so, giving you some Peter time.”  
Peter couldn't help but giggle at Tony's attempt at being funny. “Sure thing, Mr. Stark.”

Peter pulled his phone out of his sweatshirt pocket, which was full of texts from May asking how it went. He scooted just far enough away so Tony couldn't see him texting.  
~~  
Text: Peter → May: “Could you stay ‘out of town’ until tomorrow? :)”

Text: May → Peter: “I assume it went well? <3 I'll text Tony to let him know. Love you, Pete!”  
~~  
“I better go see what Pepper wanted, no?” Tony smiled. “You know where to find me. Otherwise, I'll come to get you when dinner's ready. Two hours, Peter Time.” He winked, closing Peter's door gingerly behind him.  
Peter took this opportunity to take a quick nap to recharge before his meal with Tony and his friends.  
  
Tony, being a man of his word, knocked gently on Peter's door exactly two hours later. Given no response, he used his better judgment and decided to quietly step in to make sure Peter wasn't asleep. Surely enough, Peter was in the fetal position under his weighted blanket, asleep.  
“Psst. Underoos.” Tony whispered, tapping him softly on the shoulder. Peter began to stir, to find Tony peering over him like a dad. “Wakey wakey, dinner's ready.”  
Peter's voice was still deep and rough from just being asleep, and he wanted to cherish that opportunity. “What time is it?”  
Tony checked his watch, grinning at Peter's morning voice. “6:23.”  
“Shhi- I need to get ready for sc-” Peter was cut off by Tony's finger on his lips.  
“P.M, Peter. 6:23 in the evening.”  
“Oh, right.” Peter blushed.  
“You really that tired?” Tony asked.  
“No, I just-” he ran his hands through his hair. “Emotionally tired.”  
Tony placed a hand on Peter's back. “That's alright. Just a heads up, your aunt May told me she'd be out of town until noon tomorrow which means you're stuck with me in the tower until school tomorrow unless you want me to drop you off at home later.”  
“I'll be fine here, Mr. Stark, thank you.”  
“No problem, now dinner's this way.”

Peter wandered through the halls right behind Tony and made his way into the kitchen to find Tony taking his seat next to Pepper, alongside an empty plate next to Banner.  
“Hey, it's Peter!”  
Peter plastered a confused look to his face, sliding up to sit on the stool.  
“Stark wouldn't tell us who else was coming to eat with us. At this point, we'd thought Vision would've arrived.”  
Peter’s face remained confused. “Sir, Vision can't consume food, he's only powered by sunlight.”  
Banner looked back and forth between Peter and Tony, with a look of empathy to Peter and a look of _“Is this kid being serious?”_ To Tony.  
“It- it's a joke, Peter,” Tony replied.  
Peter looked down at his shoes dangling above the floor. “Oh, right, of course.”

The rest of dinner was relatively uneventful, up until the end after Pepper collected all of the plates and set them aside. Tony picked up his champagne glass and stood up. “To Peter!”  
Peter's face went immediately red as he registered what was happening. “Mr. Stark, I-”  
Tony's obnoxious mouth cut him off. “For being our friendly neighborhood Spider-Man, taking time out of his very busy day to come to have dinner with us.” Tony wasn't drunk, minimally tipsy at the most, but he dropped his self-control bit by bit to have a little fun.  
“Mr. Stark, I can't drink; I'm not twenty-one…” Peter stated sheepishly.  
Tony merely winked and tipped his glass towards Peter. “Want some anyways?  
Peter shook his head. “No, sir, alcohol isn't good for a fifteen-year-old.”  
“Right, right.” Tony rolled his eyes. “Oh well. To Peter!” He raised his glass, turning to Pepper and Bruce, who did the same. Peter turned bright red before Tony burst out laughing and told Peter he could leave “the adults” whenever he wanted to. He took this opportunity to take a shower and have an hour or two of “Peter time” to himself.

Peter sank into his bed to check his messages and clear his emails before he fell asleep. He then realized this was usually when he'd go say goodnight to Aunt May. He could've just sucked it up and went to bed, but his gut was telling him to wish Tony a good night.

Peter wandered up to Tony's door and knocked a little.  
Tony assumed it was one of the other Avengers, or even Pepper, making sure they didn't walk in on him completely naked. “Come in!” He called, finishing another effortless chin-up on the bar he'd attached to his ceiling. As the door slid open, he dropped down from the bar to see who it was. When Peter appeared holding a book in his hand, Tony's mind completely skipped over the fact that he was wearing only a pair of gym shorts with no shirt.

“Hey, Mr. Star-” Peter cut himself off. His eyes met with Tony's, then immediately drifted down to the two long scars lining the bottom of Tony's pecs.


	2. One In the Same

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Tony Stark was trans. There’s nothing he could do to change that. He hadn’t told anyone about this for years. Anyone who needed to know already knew and everyone else didn’t need to know. Until someone found out by sheer accident. That someone was Peter Parker.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> trigger warning / content warning - PTSD
> 
> Author's Note:  
Sorry it's been almost two months since the first chapter, I'm really enjoying planning for this fic and I hope you're all enjoying it. Can't wait for you all to see what's in store!

“Hey, Mr. Star-” Peter cut himself off. His eyes met with Tony’s, then immediately drifted down to the two long scars lining the bottom of Tony’s pecs.

Tony and Peter simultaneously stopped dead in their tracks. Peter’s brain was trying to rationalize, but Tony’s face went a ghostly white. He knew exactly what Peter was looking at. As Peter’s thoughts were being gathered, it gave Tony time to think. This is precisely what Tony had feared. His first instinct was to turn around and scream at Peter to get out. Seconds before he could open his mouth, he took a deep breath. Peter was still frozen in place. Tony so deeply wanted to get the first word out, but Peter piped up. “Mr. Stark?” His voice was unexpectedly hushed. “I- just wanted to say goodnight.” Peter turned around and closed the door behind him. He took a deep breath, accepting the deep rush of emotions without registering them. Peter took a few soft steps down the carpeted hallway.

Before he could make it four steps, a weak voice reached through the door. “Peter-”  
He could immediately recognize it was Tony, even over the quiver that came along with it. He stopped dead in his tracks. It coughed. “Peter.”

It sounded like a child trying to muster up all of their courage. “Come back.”

Peter turned around and placed his hand on the doorknob, about to turn it, and hesitated.

Tony noticed Peter wasn’t coming in. “Peter?”  
His voice was softer, almost scared, but he had time to collect himself.

Peter pushed the door open to find Mr. Stark sitting on the side of his bed with an MIT hoodie on, staring at the blank wall. He quietly shuffled over to sit next to Tony. “Mr. Stark, I-” Peter started, soon losing whatever he planned on saying.  
“Peter, I should’ve told you, I really should have.”  
“W-why didn’t you..?” Peter stammered quietly.  
Tony took a deep breath and turned to Peter. “I haven’t told anyone for 23 years, Peter. Anyone who needed to know already knew and everyone else didn’t need to know. I didn’t think it was important.” Despite his best efforts, Tony started getting a little choked up. “It’s not a big deal, really.” He turned back to where he was, trying to hide the tiny tears forming in his eyes.  
“Mr- Mr. Stark… I’m sorry. I didn’t mean to find out, I didn’t mean to scare you, I didn’t mean to,” Peter hesitated, looking Tony directly in the eyes. “I didn’t mean to make you cry.”  
Tony blinked rapidly. “I’m not crying.” His quivering voice told otherwise. “It’s not your fault. I- I needed to tell you eventually. I suppose it would be useful if I showed you these scars, no?” Tony fumbled, pulling his sweatshirt over his head. “Just-” Tony paused once more. “Focus on the ones from surgery- You can get an idea of what yours might look like.”  
Peter was reasonably amazed at the perfectly curved scars from Tony’s mastectomy. Still, he would be lying if he said he didn’t pay just as much attention to the keloid scars sprinkled around Tony’s chest, clearly by an inexperienced hand. They became the new elephant in the room. Despite this, Tony’s gut was telling him to be helpful for a change. Open up for a change. Help Peter out by sharing all of his wisdom he’d gathered.  
“How long ago did you get surgery?”  
Tony lifted an eyebrow. “Top surgery? Nine- hmm… Nineteen years ago.”  
“Will my scars always be that dark? And wait, what do you mean top surgery? Is there more than one you have to get?”  
“Peter, Peter. Slow down. I’ll answer your questions, but you’re going to have to stop for a minute.”  
Tony’s ego seemed to have disassembled itself for a moment while he talked. His speech was smooth, with only a hint of emotion behind it. His voice then transitioned to being cold and alone the longer he spoke. Peter never registered that Tony was mentally reverting back to twenty years ago. “I was told that chest reconstruction surgery might not be an option for me.” Tony’s voice continued to get higher as if he had never gone on hormones. “I got it anyways. I refused to take no as an answer, so they performed it.” At this point, Tony was no longer there, talking to Peter. He was reflecting on his prior years with himself. “My scars never properly healed.” Without needing to look, Tony reached up to his chest to touch his scars. His surgery scars, that is. The second his finger touched the decades-old wound, it immediately came back to his side. He shuddered. “I was too impatient.”

Peter knew something was wrong, but he couldn’t figure out what was happening. This was the most Tony had ever talked about something so personal, something he was ashamed of. Tony was always boasting about an event that had happened yesterday or an idea he had had. Peter always assumed Tony’s early life was smooth sailing, with the “accident” killing his parents being a minor speed bump. Having idolized Iron Man throughout his childhood, it was difficult for Peter to imagine Tony Stark’s life to be anything less than ideal.  
“W- what? Why didn’t they heal?” Peter whispered. “Will mine heal?”  
Tony never paused talking. He was too deep in a dark pit of his own past to listen to Peter’s question, and his brain was on autopilot. His words eventually started wandering, but his point stayed coherent. Tony had used his own hand as an attempt to escape from the body that wasn’t his. He’d tried to remove his chest on his own, leaving him only a bloody hand and scars like sprinkles on his pecs.  
Peter tried to pipe up a few times, but it was only when Tony paid no attention that Peter realized Tony had dissociated entirely and was dangerously distant from the present timeline.

Peter knew he needed to get help. In an attempt to rationalize, he silently slipped out of the room. Tony didn’t notice, and Peter wasn’t entirely sure Tony even knew where he was anymore.

Peter’s steps down the hallway mirrored his steps leaving Tony’s room just a little while earlier, soft-spoken and scared. He floated into the kitchen to see Pepper sitting at the island, working on her laptop. Not sure how to approach her, he tapped her on the shoulder.  
“Pepper?” Peter’s voice was shaky; he knew what he needed to do, but building the courage to do it was difficult.  
Pepper turned to Peter, almost immediately noticing how nervous he was. “Mm? What can I help you with?”  
“Mr. Stark… I need your help. He’s-” Peter paused. “He zoned out, and I don’t know how to get his attention.”  
“Zoned out?” She chuckled a little bit. “He does that all the time. Have you tried shoving him a little bit?”  
Pepper immediately saw panic set deeper into Peter’s face and changed her course of action. She rose from her chair and wrapped an arm around Peter’s shoulder. “Where is he, Peter? I can tell if something’s up, let me see if I can help him.”  
Leaving her hand on Peter’s shoulder, he silently lead her to Tony’s bedroom, where he still sat on the bed. With it being an irresponsible decision to leave Tony alone during a PTSD episode, Peter was lucky he hadn’t harmed himself, willingly or not. Right as they walked in, Tony started to run his fingers over the scars around his chest without pulling away.  
Pepper took a few quick strides towards the bed, quickly recognizing the situation and leaving Peter standing in the doorway. Sitting on the side of the bed next to Tony, she gathered herself and grasped one of Tony’s hands in both of hers. “Tony?” Pepper chimed sweetly, but with little hope. As expected, Tony didn’t respond. With a bit more firmness in her voice, she looked Tony in the eyes. “Anthony.”  
He still stared off into space, and Peter was anxiously leaning against the doorframe staring at him.  
Pepper turned her upper body to face Peter. “Peter, would you mind stepping into the hallway for a moment? You’ve done an amazing job, but I need to talk to him for a bit.”  
Peter nodded solemnly and stepped outside. He was going to stand there and wait until Pepper came out of the room, but when he heard her sweet voice almost angrily say “Gabriella,” he started running to his room as quietly as he possibly could.

Peter’s eyes scanned his room. When he was at home, he would usually grab a puzzle cube and solve it before he had the chance to cry, but Peter hadn’t brought any of his puzzles to the tower. The only thing that had any value to him in this situation was an unassuming bookshelf next to his desk. The top shelf was occupied with figurines, but nothing he could distract himself with. He moved on down to the bookshelf, which had been autonomously filled before he inhabited the room. Exploring the bookshelf, he found that it was cluttered with books designed for people with astronomically high reading capabilities, rather than an emotionally distressed teenager who wasn’t all that confident in his reading ability.

As if someone was listening to his despairs, a book finally stood out to him. He slipped his finger behind the smooth cover of a Percy Jackson book, one that he’d read a million times but never failed to go back to. Still unsure of why it was in that advanced of a bookshelf, he curled up in a blanket and started reading.

Before he had even gotten through the first two chapters, Pepper’s gentle knock pushed his bedroom door open. Peter looked up at her expectantly, awaiting an update on how Tony was doing. She leaned up against the doorframe and smiled at Peter.  
“Tony’s doing alright. He’s had a rough day, but he’s okay.” Pepper’s eyes wandered around the room, as she hadn’t seen it since Peter occupied it. “Thank you for your help, Peter.”  
She smiled once more at Peter before silently closing the door behind her. Peter sank into himself, immensely relieved that Tony was alright. He could finally sleep peacefully in his second home.

* * *

Peter awoke to his alarm clock alerting him to get ready for school. Excited for Tony to take him to school, he opened his closet. He hadn’t taken a detailed look at the clothes that awaited him for the days where he slept in the tower. He picked out a teal hoodie, slipped over his binder without a shirt in between. Admittedly, he was still exhausted, but he sprung into the kitchen to find Pepper sliding eggs onto a plate for Peter’s breakfast. 

“Hey, Pepper,” Peter chimed. “Where’s Mr. Stark?”  
Pepper turned to wash the frying pan in the sink. “Still asleep, Pete. He had a rocky day yesterday, I’d say he’s taking a well-deserved break. Happy is going to drive you to school if that’s alright.”  
She stepped around to Peter’s side of the kitchen island to set silverware on both sides of his plate.  
“Meet Happy in the lobby when you’re ready to leave, alright?”  
Peter nodded, allowing Pepper to disappear down the hallway, reminding Peter to enjoy his meal.

With his spirits slightly dampened knowing Tony couldn’t drive him to school, he found Happy in the lobby of the tower awaiting him. He awkwardly said hello and got in the back seat for the ride to Midtown High.


	3. Chemistry

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Peter Parker is a bi disaster, that's really all there is to it.

Peter glanced up at the clock as he walked down the hallway at the speed of everyone else trying to make their way through the maze known as the English hallway. He had a minute left to get through this hallway and to the end of the next. Being Spider-Man, Peter could run at 200 mph and knock everyone over, but his heart told him to fly under the radar and stay safe. That being said, he did need to pick up his pace if he was going to make it to calculus on time. Peter decided to dash in between the other students and speed up to a slow run. 

The second he started to gain momentum, his bookbag quickly latched onto another person's, sending him flying into someone's bag. Half of him expected the latter person to turn around and yell at him, but the instant he looked up to see who it was, he knew they wouldn't bat an eye. 

Peter instantly felt terrible, knowing the kid got shoved around in the hallway more than most, and wouldn't cause a scene no matter what. He regained his balance and confirmed it was who he thought it was. Out of the goodness of his heart, he ran up to the kid. "Zachariah!" 

Zachariah stopped dead in his tracks and turned around. Raising an eyebrow, he looked Peter directly in the eyes. "How do you know my name?"

Peter was taken aback; hence the stammering. "Wha- I? You've gone to our school since kindergarten, right?" 

Zachariah's expression immediately softened. "Oh. Right. Sorry- did you need something?" 

Peter still had butterflies in his stomach, forming a knotted mess. "I jus- just wanted to say sorry for bumping into you." 

"Don't worry about it, it happens all the time. At this point, I'm more worried about the people ramming into me. My bag tends to hurt."

Peter's face flushed bright pink as he rubbed his cheek, which had come into contact with Zachariah's bookbag. "It's not that bad," he giggled quietly. "I should- I should get to class though." 

"Alright," Zachariah nodded with a small wave. "See you around." 

Peter was still pink as he sprinted to calculus as humanely as he possibly could. 

Fourth period calculus passed, mundane as always, and Peter only had to make it through chemistry before he could meet Ned and MJ once again at lunch. Peter walked into chemistry and surveyed the room. It was only the second week of school, and the teacher didn't seem to care about consistent seating yet. People were filing into their chairs and quickly filling up the seats Peter used to sit in. His last option was an empty stool on the lab counter next to Zachariah. 

Peter internally groaned. If he managed to gather the confidence to go over there, he'd probably make a fool of himself, but the number of free spots were dwindling. As the bell started ringing, Peter took in a sharp breath. He was going to have to suck it up and ask him if anyone was sitting there. 

Peter wasn't trying to avoid sitting with Zachariah; in fact, he'd rather sit with him than most other people stuck in that class. He reluctantly made his way over to the table, noticing Zachariah looked up to see who was walking over but snapped his head back to his book. Peter adjusted his bag on his shoulders and swallowed, leaning over to Zach to be heard.

"Is anyone- anyone sitting here?" 

Zachariah shook his head and shifted to the other side of his seat so Peter had enough room to sit. He slipped his finger into the book he was reading and searched for a bookmark. Peter slid into the chair and placed his bag on the floor.

The entire class period, Peter was quiet. He wanted Zachariah to like him, but was it really worth the stress of doing something wrong and ruining a friendship that had barely started? As Peter began to hear the rustling of papers, he glanced at the clock. The bell was to ring in a moment, and Peter's chances were quickly disappearing. He desperately wanted to offer Zachariah a seat at his lunch table. Zach generally didn't have a consistent group to sit with and Peter wanted to work him into their friend group. People started rising from their seats, and Zachariah was quick to follow. Just before the bell rang, Peter turned around. He gathered courage once more and attempted to play it cool.

"Hey, Zachariah, which lunch period do you have?"

Zach pulled an earbud out of his ear to talk to Peter. "Next period- I mean sixth. Why?"

"Oh, nothing. I was just wondering if you'd like to sit with my table. You can say no, I don't really care, I was just thinking..." He trailed off, and his face went pink once more.

Peter seemed to have taken Zachariah by surprise. 

"Ah, actually, that'd be fine. I can just walk with you if that's alright." He was hesitating between all of his phrases, mirroring Peter.

Zachariah took to the stairs first, almost gliding down them before he slowed down to wait for Peter. 

Peter lead him to the table where Ned and MJ were putting their bags. He crouched to put his belongings on the ground only to be met with a puzzled look from MJ. Peter could read her almost instantaneously. 

"Brought someone from chemistry; I was hoping he could sit with us."

Zach gave an awkward wave to MJ, who nodded in return.

"Zachariah, this is MJ, and this is Ned." Peter gestured towards his friends.

"Ned, MJ, this is Zachariah." 

In response, he went to shake MJ's hand. "Actually, you can call me Zach."

Peter smiled nervously and made his way to the lunch line with the rest of them following.

After the four of them had gotten back to the table with their trays, Ned and MJ took one side of the table while Peter and Zach took the other. Not much conversation had been struck yet when Peter's phone buzzed. He checked it only to find a text from MJ.

_ Text: MJ → Peter: "is this the kid you've been crushing on since fifth?" _

Peter shot an embarrassed look over the table, confirming MJ's suspicion. He turned his phone upside down to finish out the period. Luckily, Zach didn't see the text but the thought of him knowing about this replanted butterflies in Peter's gut.

They were mostly quiet throughout lunch, but it was not an awkward silence. Zach started tapping a rhythm on the table halfway through, but Peter didn't seem to mind.

After the period ended, Peter didn't see Zach in the hallways. He rode the bus home that afternoon and opted to take a power nap on the couch after kicking his shoes off and dropping his bag directly in front of said couch.

Peter could have easily slept for another hour. Still, he woke up to a notification that MJ had added someone to the group chat with the username  _ zachariah.sterner.  _ Peter smiled and tossed his phone to the other end of the couch so he could roll over and resume his nap.


End file.
